The US State Department says it has "credible reports" that Hamas is planning an "imminent" attack on civilians in Gaza, which it says would violate the ceasefire agreement.

A statement released on Saturday said a planned attack against Palestinians would be a "direct and grave" violation of the ceasefire agreement and "undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts".

The state department did not not provide further details on the attack and it is unclear what reports it was citing.

The first phase of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel is currently in progress - all living hostages have been released and bodies of the deceased are still being returned to Israel.

Also part of the agreement, Israel freed 250 Palestinian prisoners in its jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

Washington said it had already informed other guarantors of the Gaza peace agreement - which include Egypt, Qatar and Turkey - and demanded Hamas uphold its end of the ceasefire terms.

"Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire," the statement said.

Hamas has not yet commented on the statement.

President Donald Trump has previously warned Hamas against the killing of civilians.

"If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them," Trump said in a post on Truth Social earlier this week.

He later clarified that he would not be sending US troops into Gaza.

Last week, BBC Verify authenticated graphic videos that showed a public execution carried out by Hamas gunmen in Gaza.

The videos showed several men with guns line up eight people, whose arms were tied behind their backs, before killing them in a crowded square.

BBC Verify could not confirm the identity of the masked gunmen, though some appeared to be wearing the green headbands associated with Hamas.

On Saturday, Israel said it had received two more bodies from Gaza that Hamas said are hostages, though they have yet to be formally identified.

So far, the remains of 10 out of 28 deceased hostages had been returned to Israel.

Separately on Saturday, 11 members of one Palestinian family were killed by an Israeli tank shell, according to the Hamas-run civil defence ministry, in what was the deadliest single incident involving Israeli soldiers in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire.

The Israeli military said soldiers had fired at a "suspicious vehicle" that had crossed the so-called yellow line demarcating the area still occupied by Israeli forces in Gaza.

There are no physical markers of this line, and it is unclear if the bus did cross it. The BBC has asked the IDF for the coordinates of the incident.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.

At least 68,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.

In September, a UN commission of inquiry said Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel categorically rejected the report as "distorted and false".

The Louvre Museum in Paris has been closed following a robbery, France's culture minister says.

Rachida Dati wrote on X that the robbery happened on Sunday morning as the museum was opening. She said she was at the site, where police are investigating

The museum confirmed it was closing for the day "for exceptional reasons," without providing further details. Various French media reports say jewellery has been stolen.

The Louvre is the world's most visited museum and houses many famous artworks and other valuable items.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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Virginia Giuffre says she feared she might "die a sex slave" at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and his circle, her posthumous memoir reveals.

The BBC has obtained a full copy of Nobody's Girl, written by the prominent accuser of convicted sex offender Epstein ahead of its publication on Tuesday, almost six months after she took her own life.

In the memoir, Ms Giuffre also says she had sex with Prince Andrew on three separate occasions, including once with Epstein and approximately eight other young women.

Prince Andrew, who reached a financial settlement with Ms Giuffre in 2022, has always denied any wrongdoing.

The memoir, which the BBC bought from a book store in central London days before its official release date, paints a picture of a web of rich and powerful people abusing young women.

At the centre of the abuse was Epstein and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence on sex-trafficking charges.

Ms Giuffre says that even decades later, she remembers how much she feared them both.

Much of the book makes for extremely harrowing reading, as Ms Giuffre details the sadistic abuse that Epstein put her through.

She says Epstein subjected her to sadomasochistic sex which caused her "so much pain that I prayed I would black out".

On Friday, Prince Andrew announced that he was voluntarily deciding not to use his titles and giving up membership of the Order of the Garter - the oldest and most senior order of chivalry in Britain.

He will no longer use his Duke of York title, an honour received from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

In his statement, he said: "I vigorously deny the accusations against me."

However the new book, written by Ms Giuffre and ghostwriter Amy Wallace, causes further embarrassment for the prince.

In the memoir, Ms Giuffre says she first met Prince Andrew in March 2001.

She writes that Maxwell woke her up and told her it was going to be a "special day" and that "just like Cinderella" she was going to meet a "handsome prince".

She says that when she met Prince Andrew later that day, Maxwell told him to guess her age.

The prince, who was then 41, "guessed correctly: seventeen", Ms Giuffre said. "My daughters are just a little younger than you," she recalls him saying.

That night, she says she attended London's Tramp nightclub with Prince Andrew, Epstein and Maxwell, where she says the prince "sweated profusely".

In a car on the way back to Maxwell's house afterwards, Ms Giuffre writes that Maxwell told her: "When we get home, you are to do for him what you do for Jeffrey."

She wrote that back at the house they had sex.

"He was friendly enough, but still entitled - as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright," she says.

"The next morning, it was clear that Maxwell had conferred with her royal chum because she told me: 'You did well. The prince had fun.'"

Ms Giuffre writes that she "didn't feel so great", adding: "Soon, Epstein would give me $15,000 for servicing the man the tabloids called 'Randy Andy' - a lot of money."

Ms Giuffre claims she had sex for a second time with the prince around a month later at Epstein's townhouse in New York.

She says the third occasion was on Epstein's island as part of what Ms Giuffre called "an orgy".

She writes that she said in a sworn declaration in 2015 that she was "around 18".

"Epstein, Andy, and approximately eight other young girls and I had sex together," she says.

"The other girls all appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn't really speak English.

"Epstein laughed about how they couldn't really communicate, saying they are the easiest girls to get along with."

Later in the book, Ms Giuffre touches on her 2022 out-of-court settlement with Prince Andrew after she brought a civil case against him.

"I agreed to a one-year gag order, which seemed important to the prince because it ensured his mother's Platinum Jubilee would not be tarnished any more than it already had been," she writes.

While Ms Giuffre's alleged interactions with Prince Andrew have been widely reported by the British press, the book's content is wider in scope - littered with sinister details of Epstein's sex trafficking.

The girls were required to look "childlike", Ms Giuffre says, and her childhood eating disorder was "only encouraged" under Epstein's roof.

"In my years with them, they lent me out to scores of wealthy, powerful people," she writes.

"I was habitually used and humiliated - and in some instances, choked, beaten, and bloodied.

"I believed that I might die a sex slave."

Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a person under the age of 18. He died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

On Sunday, the Metropolitan Police said it was "actively" looking into media reports that Prince Andrew tried to obtain personal information about Ms Giuffre through his police protection officer (PPO).

According to the Mail on Sunday, the prince asked the officer to investigate Ms Giuffre just before the newspaper published a photo in February 2011 of her first meeting with the prince.

A royal source told the BBC there are currently no plans for the removal of the prince title that Andrew was born with.

"The headlines are taking a lot of oxygen out of the royal room," they added, referring to press about Prince Andrew diverting attention away from King Charles's engagements.

In 2019, the prince repeatedly told BBC Newsnight that he did not remember meeting Ms Giuffre "at all" and that they "never had any sort of sexual contact."

Buckingham Palace has not commented.

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The Louvre Museum in Paris has been forced to close while police investigate a brazen heist which reportedly targeted France's priceless crown jewels.

Thieves wielding power tools broke into the world's most visited museum in broad daylight, before escaping on scooters with items said to be of "incalculable" value.

Here is what we know about the crime which has stunned France.

How did the theft unfold?

The theft occurred on Sunday between 09:30 and 09:40 local time, shortly after the museum opened to visitors.

The thieves appear to have used a mechanical ladder to gain access to the Galerie d'Apollon via a balcony close to the River Seine.

Pictures from the scene showed a vehicle-mounted ladder leading up to a first-floor window.

The thieves are then said to have cut through glass panes with an angle grinder or chainsaw to gain access to the museum.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati told French news outlet TF1 that footage of the theft showed the masked robbers entering "calmly" and smashing display cases containing the jewels.

No one was injured in the incident, with Dati saying there been "no violence, very professional".

She described the thieves as seemingly being "experienced" with a well-prepared plan to flee on scooters.

Investigators believe three or four suspects were involved and are studying CCTV footage from the escape route.

The whole raid happened "very, very fast", Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told France Inter radio, and was over in a handful of minutes.

One witness described scenes of "total panic" as the museum was evacuated. Later images showed entrances closed off with metal gates.

What was stolen

French authorities have not confirmed which items were taken but the wing which was targeted houses jewels and riches from France's royal past.

Dati said one item was found outside the museum, apparently having been dropped during the escape. Le Parisien newspaper reported it may have been the crown of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.

The newspaper said the Regent Diamond - the 140-carat centrepiece of the gallery - was not stolen.

BFM reported that the stolen pieces were believed to include jewels belonging to Napoleon III, and that a second cabinet containing other regal treasures may also have been targeted.

Nuñez described the stolen jewels "priceless" and "of immeasurable heritage value".

Have similar thefts happened before?

In 1911, an Italian museum employee was able to make off with the Mona Lisa under his coat after lifting the painting - which was then little-known to the public - straight off the wall of a quiet gallery.

It was recovered after two years and the culprit later said he was motivated by the belief the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece belonged in Italy.

Fewer chances are taken with the Mona Lisa these days: the painting, perhaps the most renowned in the museum's collection, hangs in a high-security glass compartment.

In 1998, the Le Chemin de Sevres - a 19th century painting by Camille Corot - was stolen and has never been found. The incident prompted a massive overhaul of museum security.

There has been a recent spate of thefts targeting French museums.

Last month, thieves broke into the Adrien Dubouche Museum in Limoges and stole porcelain works reputedly worth €9.5m ($11m / £8.25m).

In November 2024, seven items of "great historic and heritage value" were stolen from the Cognacq-Jay Museum in the capital. Five were recovered a few days ago.

The same month, armed robbers raided the Hieron Museum in Burgundy, firing shots before escaping with millions of pounds worth of 20th century artworks.

President Donald Trump has said the US will return two people who survived a strike on what he called a "drug-carrying submarine" to their countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia.

Writing on social media, Trump said two other people were killed in the US strike on the vessel, which he said US intelligence confirmed was "loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics".

The attack on Thursday is at least the sixth US strike on ships in the Caribbean Sea in recent weeks. It is the first time survivors have been reported.

At least 27 people were killed in the prior five boat strikes in the waters off Venezuela, according to figures released by the administration.

The two survivors were rescued by a US military helicopter and then shuttled onto a US warship in the Caribbean, unnamed US officials told US media earlier.

In recent weeks, Trump has ramped up threats against Venezuela's leadership over claims that the country is sending drugs to the US. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has accused Trump of trying to make the South American nation "an American colony".

Trump has defended the ongoing boat attacks, saying they are aimed at stemming the flow of drugs from Latin America into the US, but his government has not provided evidence or details about the identities of the vessels or those on board.

"It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route," Trump said in his Truth Social post on Saturday.

"The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution."

He added that no US military personnel were injured in the attack.

On Friday, the US president had said the submarine targeting the latest attack was "built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs".

"This was not an innocent group of people. I don't know too many people who have submarines, and that was an attack on a drug-carrying, loaded submarine," he added.

UN-appointed human rights experts have described the US strikes as "extrajudicial executions".

Trump earlier told reporters that he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, and that he was considering launching attacks on Venezuelan soil.

Narco-subs have become a popular way to transport drugs as they can go largely undetected, and can be sunk after delivery. They are often homemade and constructed using fibreglass and plywood.

The US, as well as other coastal nations, have previously intercepted some of these subs.

President Donald Trump has said the US will return two people who survived a strike on what he called a "drug-carrying submarine" to their countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia.

Writing on social media, Trump said two other people were killed in the US strike on the vessel, which he said US intelligence confirmed was "loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics".

The attack on Thursday is at least the sixth US strike on ships in the Caribbean Sea in recent weeks. It is the first time survivors have been reported.

At least 27 people were killed in the prior five boat strikes in the waters off Venezuela, according to figures released by the administration.

The two survivors were rescued by a US military helicopter and then shuttled onto a US warship in the Caribbean, unnamed US officials told US media earlier.

In recent weeks, Trump has ramped up threats against Venezuela's leadership over claims that the country is sending drugs to the US. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has accused Trump of trying to make the South American nation "an American colony".

Trump has defended the ongoing boat attacks, saying they are aimed at stemming the flow of drugs from Latin America into the US, but his government has not provided evidence or details about the identities of the vessels or those on board.

"It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route," Trump said in his Truth Social post on Saturday.

"The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution."

He added that no US military personnel were injured in the attack.

On Friday, the US president had said the submarine targeting the latest attack was "built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs".

"This was not an innocent group of people. I don't know too many people who have submarines, and that was an attack on a drug-carrying, loaded submarine," he added.

UN-appointed human rights experts have described the US strikes as "extrajudicial executions".

Trump earlier told reporters that he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, and that he was considering launching attacks on Venezuelan soil.

Narco-subs have become a popular way to transport drugs as they can go largely undetected, and can be sunk after delivery. They are often homemade and constructed using fibreglass and plywood.

The US, as well as other coastal nations, have previously intercepted some of these subs.

It is the most spectacular robbery at the Louvre museum since the Mona Lisa disappeared in 1911.

And it poses serious questions about levels of security covering French artworks, at a time when they are increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs.

According to France's new interior minister Laurent Nunez, the gang that broke into the Apollo Gallery Sunday morning was clearly professional.

They knew what they wanted, had evidently "cased the joint" in advance, had a brazenly simple but effective modus operandi, and needed no more than seven minutes to take their booty and get away.

In a truck equipped with an elevating platform of the type used by removal companies, they parked on the street outside, raised themselves up to the first floor, then used a disc-cutter to enter through a window.

Inside the richly decorated gallery they made for two display-cases which contain what remains of the French crown jewels.

Most of France's royal regalia was lost or sold after the 1789 Revolution, but some items were saved or bought back. Most of what was in the cases, though, dates from the 19th Century and the two imperial families of Napoleon and his nephew Napoleon III.

According to the authorities, eight items were taken including diadems, necklaces, ear-rings and brooches.

They had belonged to Napoleon's wife the empress Marie-Louise; to his sister-in-law Queen Hortense of Holland; to Queen Marie-Amelie, wife of France's last King Louis-Philippe, who ruled from 1830 to 1848; and to the empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, who ruled from 1852 to 1870.

A crown of the empress Eugénie was left at the scene and is being examined to see if it is damaged.

In a statement the culture ministry said that the alarms had sounded correctly. Five museum staff who were in the gallery or nearby followed protocol by contacting security forces and protecting visitors.

It said the gang had tried to set fire to their vehicle outside but were prevented by the intervention of a museum staff-member.

The heist took place in a gallery just a short walk from some of the world's most famous paintings – such as the Mona Lisa.

But the criminal groups that order heists like this do not target world-famous paintings that cannot ever be displayed or sold. They prefer items that can be converted into cash – and jewels top the list.

However huge their historical and cultural value, crowns and diadems can easily be broken apart and sold in bits. Even large and famous diamonds can be cut. The final sales price might not be what the original artefact was worth, but it will still be considerable.

Two recent museum thefts in France had already alerted the authorities to the growing audacity of art gangs, and a security plan drawn up by the culture ministry is gradually being put into effect across France.

"We are well aware that French museums are vulnerable," said Nunez.

In September thieves took raw gold – in its mineral state – from the Natural History Museum in Paris. The gold was worth about 600,000 euros (£520,000) and will have been easily disposed of on the black market.

In the same month thieves took porcelain worth 6,000,000 euros from a museum in Limoges – a city once famous for its chinaware. The haul could well have been commissioned by a foreign buyer.

The Louvre contains thousands of artworks that are famous around the world, and an equal number of more obscure items that are nonetheless culturally significant.

But in its 230-year history there have been relatively few thefts – largely thanks to the tight security in place.

The most recent disappearance was of a landscape by the 19th Century artist Camille Corot. Le Chemin de Sèvres (The Road to Sèvres) was simply removed from a wall in 1998 when no-one was looking, and has not been seen since.

But by far the most famous theft was the one that took place in 1911, when Leonardo da Vinci's La Joconde – better known now as the Mona Lisa – was taken. The culprit back then was able to roll it up and put it inside his jacket.

It turned out he was an Italian nationalist who wanted the artwork brought back home. It was found in Italy in 1914 and returned to the Louvre.

Unless they have a quick success in catching the thieves, today's investigators are unlikely to be so lucky.

The first aim of the gang will be to disperse the jewels and sell them on. It will not be hard.